


Power! She got game!

by Alle__Panda



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: AU Modern Setting, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Ben Solo is a Mess, Ben Solo is really confused, College, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Finn likes Rey, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden Attraction, Funny!, Rey Needs A Hug, Rey has to pretend to be a boy, Rey is not a boy at all..., Secret love, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, a lot of inner conflict, awkward moments, camouflage, exchange rommate, lot of funny moments, lot of misunderstandins, mention of omosexuality, virgins in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-04-07 18:03:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19090261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alle__Panda/pseuds/Alle__Panda
Summary: Rey has to pretend to be a boy in order to join the basketaball team at Cruscant University. That is her only way to be allowed to sleep in the  free dorm.But being a boy in a male team, would  be that easy? Probably not. Expecially when the ace of the team, Kylo Ren, is a total asshole who doesn't seem to get along with anyone, expecially him/her...





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> I took my inspiration from a manga by Shizuru Seino, a comic I LOVED when I was sexteen, that has the same title of this story: "Power! She got game" or "Girl got game". So, the plot is a little strange, because maybe you know how shojo manga are... but it's funny, and sweet, with the right proportion of angst. So... enjoy! :*

It was a nightmare. For sure.

After all the effrts to leave Jakku, enter at the university, and settle down in Cruscant, it wasn’t possible that they refused to accept her into the dorm. Where was she supposed to sleep? There wasn’t any room left, they said. The scholarship that she won when she was still in the foster care system, only a few months before she graduated from high school, had made it very clear: the college would have allowed her to follow freely all the lessons in order to take the exams. The books were also all payed but, it occurred to Rey, the paper didn’t ever mentioned a secure place to sleep.

As it seemed, the rooms for special students like her, the ones who couldn’t pay for a proper accommodation, were very few, and she should have made a request to gain one of them a very long time before to the beginning of the lessons. So there wasn’t any free place left for her… And Rey was truly desperate. All the rooms were occupied, and even if she had found a roommate last minute, that couldn’t have helped her to pay the rent anyhow. The few money she had collected during the weekends she had worked as a waitress at Maz’s pub, wouldn’t have being enough for the whole semester by any means.

She was fucked! But that was totally unfair. Rey had only had the time to get fascinated by the wonderful beauty of the campus only to discover that her new College experience was about to end, even before to start… Rey sighed heavily trying to restrain herself from panicking while addressing the University manager who had already throw her a glance full of pity after the previous three times she asked and shook her head in denial.

“But, isn’t there any other option left for my situation? I mean…I had already travelled so far and…my first class is supposed to start tomorrow morning. I worked really hard to obtain the chance to be here…” she pleaded in a whiny tone that wasn’t hers, sniffing. “How could I…?”

“I am sorry dear” the manager of the administrative office said to her, again, apologetically. Rey was still fighting back her tears. “The dorm is at capacity…I am really sorry. Believe me, If I could do something for you I…” she repeated time.

“ I see…” Rey stepped in at that point, her voice tired. “Thank you anyhow…Goodbye” she said. At that, the brown eyes of the older woman met Rey’s one. They were full of compassion and grief, true grief, but the straight line of her mouth also told her that she wouldn’t have changed her mind about it. So Rey got up from her chair and stormed towards the door with her head spinning and her hearth already hammering into her chest, before the woman could see her busrting into tears again. In the same instant she was out of the office a strangled whine escaped from her mouth. She was doomed. What was she going to do now? Dread was already eating her alive when the door at her back suddenly opened and the manager call her back.

“Wait!” she said, sounding a little hopeful “maybe there is still a chance…” The woman hadn’t finished yet that Rey was already begging her with pleading eyes: “Yes! Anything!” she said while her face enlightened with hope. The mournful expression on the woman’s face, changed too into a little smile. She cleared her throat and then said: “Okay then…Have you ever played basketball?” ………………………………………………………..

Rey had somehow managed to find a solution to her problem. Enter in the basketball team while following her engineer classrooms, wasn’t such a big deal. She only had to spend at least a couple of hours at the gym, every day in the late afternoon, and that would have been enough to guarantee her an accommodation for the whole year among the members of the basketball team of the campus. As it seemed, they had a special area, inclusive the dorm, only for them. Rey couldn’t have been more happy.

Talking to that kind woman had been a lucky strike, if it wasn’t for the fact that… “I am sorry, but the team it’s already in its entirety,” said the coach when Rey finally approached him to register as a new member.

At that, her blood suddenly froze into her veins. In that same moment she felt her hearth sink into her stomach for the second time in a single day.

“What? But, please I…” she started, but then the man, an old bearded man with shockingly blue eyes, mr. Skywalker, said the badge fixed on his white polo shirt, stopped her to ask:

“Have you ever played basketball before?” and his tone was so serious that even if Rey knew she probably should have lied about it, she found herself willing to be honest with him. “No, but…” “Have you ever played any other sport while attending high shool?”

“No…You know I didn’t have enough time because I use to work after class and…”

“So…what’s your name?” he asked abruptly, as if the question of her name had distracted him from a far more important issue.

“Rey” she breathed out so quietly that, for a while, she doubted that the man had actually heard her answer. But then he continued: “Okay Rey, why are you here?” he asked then, the tone of his voice much more interrogative than before. He was looking at her with such a gravity that she found herself swallow a couple of time, her mouth totally dry.

“I… I am here to play and…” she tried, but then mr. Skywalker shook his head disapprovingly. “I know you are not truly interested in basketball…Probably you are only seeking for a free room just like many other students I already met this morning. At this point of the year, it’s always the same. Who was truly interested had signed up a couple of months ago and is already practicing with me every morning and evening. So I will give you the same answer I gave to the other students like you who came here only to gain a room for free: No!”. The coolness of his voice let Rey completely stunned and speechless.

After the initial shock she tried to say something to excuse herself, but the man stopped her immediately with a gesture of his hand.

“We are not a charity association. Come back when you’ll be truly interested in practicing the game and maybe I will allow you to join us…Until then, I wish you good luck!” mr. Skywalker sentenced before to turn his back on her. Now Rey know it for sure. She was truly fucked! ……………………………………….

 

When she found herself staring at the empty space of the corridor in front of her, Rey didn’t register the black skinned boy who was approaching, until he bumped into her. In that same moment, many papers that the boy was holding into his hands flew everywhere and Rey, suddenly recovering from her comatose state, rushed to help him to gather them.

“I am sorry” he apologized, his voice truly mortified. “I didn’t see you…I was distracted…”

“Yeah, me too…” she replied still a little fuzzy, her hands working rapidly to collect all the depliants. In wasn’t until she pick up the last one that her gaze focused on what was written upon them. The basketball team is looking for new members! Join us and make your future brighter! A sudden gasp escaped from her mouth: “Whaaaaaat?” The boy, who has knelt in front of her to pick up the papers themselves, throw her an inquisitor gaze.

“Ehy, what’s wrong?”. Rey didn’t waste any time and asked: “Ehy, are you in the basketball team?”. The boy looked a little taken aback from her strange reaction, but simply answered.

“Yes”. “And the paper says that you are looking for new members, right? This isn’t something you were about to put in the garbage…You were actually going to fix these on a notice board or hand them out in the middle of the campus, right?” her eyes were sparkling with hope while her voice sounded so eager that the boy seemed a bit scared by her enthusiastic question. “Yes…I have just printed them… by the way… I am Finn” and saying so reached out for her hand.

“Oh…Sorry…I… I am Rey” she answered then, her cheeks a little flushed now in embarrassment for her unusually rude behavior.

“Nice to meet you Rey” Finn smiled at her kindly “So…Do you know someone interested to join our team? It would be great. Since coach Snoke had arrived on campus, lots of students had quite the team… His teaching methods are…How can I say? A little extreme…” he confessed with a nervous smile. “That’s why I was charged to find new recruit”. “But…I thought that the team was at capacity and…Wasn’t the name of the coach mr. Skywalker?” Rey finally asked, her mind now really confused.

Finn blinked at her a couple of times, as if he was fighting to understand what she had just said. Then his eyes enlightened and his confused expression was replaced once again with his wide smile. “Oh…Yes…It’s true that we have got two teams. I always forget about it…” he said. After Finn’s last sentence, Rey’s hearth pick up his speed. Hope burning inside of her once again.

“I want to join you!” she almost screamed then, impatiently “Where do I have to sign?” she asked. But then the perplexed expression on Finn’s face spoke by itself and Rey knew that probably there was something she was missing. “Oh…Did you tried to join Luke’s team, right?” the boy asked at that point. Then his happy look faded.

And Rey’s stomach clenched with fear. Once again she thought about lying about her interest in the matter, but then she looked at the earnest expression on Finn’s face and the words slipped out of her mouth before she could stop herself. “Please…I really need to join the team…It’s the only way I can obtain a place to sleep for free and…” and now she sounded pathetic and desperate as ever.

“I understand… To be honest, I wasn’t pretty much interested in the game too, and, believe me, Snoke is a terrible coach…But the prospect of a free room on campus made me took the decision to join them anyhow” he confessed. “Oh I don’t mind about him. It doesn’t matter if his manners are rude or the training is hard… I can handle both of them” she said full of conviction, relief washing into Rey’s chest. But then Finn’s expression darkened once again.

“I am sorry...” Finn said biting at his lower lip in distress. “I didn’t want to mess up with you…But the fact is that…” he sighed, visibly sorry for her situation “we are not allowed to join females in our team. It’s only for boys…That’s why we have got two teams. Skywalker is the coach of the girls…” he finally explained. And so Rey felt her heart sink into his stomach once again. …………………………………………………… She bite at her hotdog like a stray dog to the point of starvation. Finn had offered her to pay for her dinner since she started to tell him a

bout her story and even if at the beginning she had refused, her growling stomach had spoken for her immediately after. “You really were hungry!” Finn commented then with a hint of smile on his face, while approaching at his own sandwich.

Rey had already manage to understand that the gentle boy she had just met was one that was difficult to see with a serious expression on his face. It made her feel better to look at his white teeth and his sparkling brown eyes, and yet she suddenly realized that Finn could have been the first friend she would have made at the College. The first of a long list that will never existed…

The simple thought almost made her loose her appetite. The reason why she had been so hungry was that she had tried to collect the money to pay the buss to return to Jakku. A shitty trip she really didn’t plan to do so soon, but it was necessary, since she didn’t have the money to pay for a place in the big and far more expansive city of Cruscant.

Rey sighed heavily putting down what was left of her hotdog on the dish. “Thank you Finn…At least I can say that, with people like you all around, I would have been truly happy here…” she said, her eyes already glossy with tears. She was about to move away when her new friend stopped her grabbing one of her arms. “Please Rey, don’t go away…There has to be a way!” he insisted.

“But I have to…My buss is leaving at 4.00 p.m. and I have only half of an hour to reach for the station and…” “Yes, but this is now fair! You struggled a lot to be allowed to come here and now…You can’t give up this way!” he said. And Rey felt herself growing even fonder with that boy that seemed to share a symilar story to hers. Leaving him would have been even more difficult now that she had had a glimpse of how her life could have been like if only she had had the occasion to attend College… “Well…Thank you Finn, but I have tried and…” then she shook her head as if to shoo a thought away “It doesn’t matter anymore…It only stings to think that, maybe, if I were a boy, I could have joined your team and so my problems would have been solved… ”.

Resignation coming from her soft voice. But right when she was about to go away and dismiss once and for all, Finn looked at her as if he had just been hit by a thunder. “Yes! You are totally right! If you were a boy, all of your problems would be over!” he shouted then, his voice loud with enthusiasm. Rey looked at him in confusion, not quite understanding his sudden enthusiastic tone.

“Yes? But Finn…What do you…” she was about to ask, then realization hit at her brain with the same strength of a giant wave

“Oh my God! You are right! But how…How can I do something like that? What about when I have to change my clothes or take a shower?”.

“Well… You can shower in your room and use some wraps as a bondage for your breasts...Avoid to talk too much with the others…Al least, during training you don’t have to talk too much…I think it can work…” he affirmed

. “Yes, but sooner or later I would be easily discovered by my roommate… ”Rey pointed out then with a mournful expression on her face. “Not if the above mentioned roommate is someone who already knows about your secret and won’t ever denounce you to anyone for any possible reason” Finn said then, a smile plastered on his face. Rey looked at him in bewilderment.

“You?” she asked. Finn nodded in assent. “My room has an empty bed, a cabinet and a desk that only waits to be occupied by someone who needs them”. Rey couldn’t restrain herself anymore. She rushed to hug Finn as if they had always been best friends instead of two people who met only a few hours before. “Oh Thank you Finn!” she said full of gratitude.

“You have just saved my life!”. At that Finn hugged her back, and whispered to her: “Oh, don’t even say that…I am glad I could help someone worthy like you”. And so, after a long day, Rey found herself in the secure space of the dorm of the basketball team, with Finn Storm, as her roommate a new best friend…Ready to take some deserved rest in order to be ready in the morning to attend her first classroom. What could have gone wrong from that point on?

 

To be continued…


	2. First impressions - part one -

Rey’s first week at Cruscant University passed by in the blink of an eye. She wouldn’t have imagined that sharing a room with a boy just met, would have been so smooth. Finn turned out to be the very respectful guy he seemed in the first place. After a couple of days to get used to his presence, Rey found herself very relieved.

He could have been a pervert or worst…She knew that guys often could be real pigs, in particular when they had the occasion to stay so close to a girl in some intimate way like sharing a bedroom. Fortunately, Finn wasn’t that kind of guy at all. He was gentle but not creepy, kind but he was also attentive not to bother her in any possible way. Unfortunately, he didn’t attended her same lessons.

He was into biology while she was more into engineering. By the way, the lessons were very interesting and Rey had the occasion to meet a lot of new people to get along with but… the problem was that now she has to pretend to be a boy. In fact, she had suddenly realized that maybe, some of the members of her new team, could have been also part of her new classroom, and that could have easily lead them to discover her secret. She really couldn’t take the risk and so, for better or worse, she managed to buy some boyish new clothes, and started to comb her hair into a strict bun in the top of her head.

At least, nowadays, some guys used to do that as well just like females, so she didn’t have to cut them as she had taught at the beginning… Following other new simple rules would have done the rest: no rings and no earrings, no bracelets or sweet amusing things like the pink-bunny cover of her cell phone… No more mascara, blush or even nail polish… Thinking better about it, Rey realized she could have even let the hair of her legs grow… because guys didn’t need to wax… But she opted to do it anyway, the simple idea too unbearable for her. At least she could have looked like one of those guys who doesn’t have many hair on their faces and all around her body in general. She knew that some didn’t even need to shave…

It was uncommon but at 19 eyes old, some guys were still looking more like boys than real men. She could have passed for one of them, and that was all.  
The only problem was that, her social life now was doomed. When she travelled from Jakku to Cruscant, her hope had been of course studying and took a degree. But she was also eager to start a new life, because her foster father, Hunkar had never allowed her to have fun before. She would have wanted to hung out with some friends, and maybe to attend some parties also, find a cute guy and…why not, have some first experience of intimacy with him… But, how was she supposed to do so, if she had to pretend to be a male?  
Rey sighed heavily looking at the door in front of her.

Her whole body was tense because she was about to enter the gym for her very first encounter with the members of the basketball team. Finn was at her side. They had talked a lot about everything and he had assured her that he would have been always at her side in order to help her if something would have gone wrong.

Before to push the door she looked at herself one last time. The white t-shirt she decided to wore, was covering the wraps she put across her chest in order to hide her breasts, and it was so large that it also covered her hips and part of her upper legs, so much that the grey shorts she put under the shirt, almost didn’t show.

Maybe, she should have opted for something else. Rey was feeling extremely exposed now, even if she hadn’t ever felt so constrict before in her life. Her breasts weren’t much big, but she probably had fixed the wraps too tightly, so much that she was finding difficult to move freely her arms, and at least, she was supposed to play basketball. How was she supposed to run if the strick bondange was altready letting her out of breath? And much more important: what if they would have discovered her immediately?

At least, she didn’t look like a guy at all… She probably was about to be discovered the second she entered the gym and so, they would have forced her to leave the dorm…  
Finn seemed to understand her nervousness and so he placed a hand on her shoulder and said: “Ehi…It’s going to be okay, I promise!”.  
Rey turned in his direction, her head spinning with thousands different thoughts. She remained still for another long moment, then she took a deep breath and she finally moved forward.

“Thank you Finn” she smiled, a sad little frightened smile that was also full of hope and gratitude “…Let’s go!”  
………………………………………..

He wasn’t suppose to go to practice that evening. His plans had been different: stay at home and study until his eyes were burning and his head was empty. But nothing seemed to work to distract him from his loss. Her feature still presents behind his eyelids. Her black long hair, her wide smile, the shape of her nose, her lips… But what made him feel so bad, among everything, were still the last words she told him before they parted their ways. They were still burning into his soul:

_**“Sorry Ben, but I think we are too young to stay stock in a relationship so old fashioned… And by the way you can ben cute as you want, but I think I need a real man…You know what I mean? Someone who is more sure about himself, someone less fragile and more…Athletic? Yes, I know you have that thing with basketball, but that sport is so boring. We live in the U.S. after all, couldn’t you chose to be in the football team instead? And to be honest, I really don’t like poetry… Who on earth spends his time to write those nonsense at your age? You should have brought me out more often instead! Do something fun…But no, you always wanted to stay home, and study or watch tv…So I don’t see the point to see each other again. By the way I am already hanging out with this other guy… but we can stay in contact if you want…”** _

  
The simple memory made him now full of anger and grief. Why had he to be always so wrong? Ben Solo smashed his books into his desk vehemently, scaring the death out of his roommate, then he grabbed the key of his bike and rushed out of the dorm in the direction of the gym. It had been a long summer, and with Bazine at his side, he didn’t have the occasion to practice at all in the last three months. He knew that Snoke was probably going to punish him for his behavior, but he couldn’t care less. He needed to put himself into something that wasn’t just studying.

Basket had always been good for him to regain some coolness. It made him feel calmer and more balanced. His only hope was that his teammates wouldn’t have mess around with him, because he really didn’t feel in the mood. When he finally reached for the entrance he parked his bike outside and only then it occurred to him that he was probably going to meet the new recruits that had just arrived on campus.  
Shit!  
He really didn’t want to waste his time babysitting some boy that was probably only interested in the free accommodation the university granted to the new members. Snoke didn’t seem to care about that… He only wanted people who’s only interest was to win games. And he only has a few rules about it. If you win, you stay. If you lose, well… So since he was at his last year, as a senior student, Kylo perfectly knew that more than half of the newbie would have been expelled before the second semester begin. He probably didn’t have to care about them.

They wouldn’t have last anyhow, and those who would have been enough strong and smart to endure the training and wind the games, sooner or later they would have probably chose to quite themselves. By the way, he was the only who last since his first year at college, five years ago. The other one, who joined them the next year and was still part of the team was Poe Dameron, while Hux came in during his third year, and Finn was the last one among the newbie of his forth year to endure the training that was still with them. So Ben perfectly knew that even this time, things wouldn’t have been any different.

Probably only one of them would have last. Maybe nobody… But he couldn’t care less. they only thing he wanted was to practice and practice until the ache into his stomach would have calmed down… He doesn’t need to think anymore. He wanted to focus only on the game.  
……………………………………………………………………..

When she finally entered the gym Rey remained still for a while in front of the other few guys who were already running to warm up their muscles. And so Finn waved at them in order to gain their attention. One of them look really pale, with red hair and a very tiny body, but he was also pretty tall. Another looked far more short than him, but his chest was broad and he seem to have a nice smile, not different from Finn’s, while the face of the first one was screaming annoyance from every cell.

“Hello guys! Come on! Here is the new boy! Come to say hi!” he shouted at them until they finally stopped.  
Rey remained paralyzed behind Finn’s shoulders while the boys approached. Their gazes seemed to be a little bored at first, then Rey could see the one with the red hair and green eyes, rising one eyebrow inquiringly, while the one with the wide smile seemed to look at her in bewilderment. Then he turned his head in one direction, then he looked in the other. Meanwhile his right hand came up to scratch at his head. When he finally spoke Rey felt her blood turning into ice.

  
“Where is the boy?” the shorter one asked then, his eyes still locked on Rey’s face. At that, she couldn’t restrain herself prom gasping for air. In that same moment Finn throw her a glance and she knew that she was supposed to say something: “Hello” she smiled pushing her cheekbone as high as she could. Then she suddenly realized that her voice had sounded dangerously girlish and she coughed a couple of times to clear her throat. Then she repeated in a lower voice:

“Hello”.

  
At that the black haired guy looked at Finn and asked: “Is this a joke?”

  
**_I knew it! It’s far too clear I am not a boy! Now I am doomed…_ **

  
Rey’s hearth pounded loud into her chest.

  
Then the red head pale one added: “Where did you manage to pick up a guy who’s even shorter than him? How is he supposed to reach the basket with those legs?”

“Yeah, I almost couldn’t see him…” Poe confirmed.

  
At that both Rey and Finn remained stunned with stupor.

  
Really? They were complaining about her highness and nothing, truly nothing about her aspect? Was she truly looking like a guy?  
For a while Rey’s pride sank under her feet. She suddenly felt a bitter taste into her mouth and the strong need to be reassured about the fact, that she was pretty.

Nor that she ever cared too much about her look, but… this was a little different. Okay, she wasn’t wearing anything feminine, nor earrings or lipstick, but…she had always been pretty sure that she would have looked like a girl even without all those stuff… Suddenly she remembered her foster father, Hunkar, addressing her like a skittish brat boy when she was younger.

He used to tell her how much she looked like a tomboy anytime she caught her collecting pieces of this and that in the junkyard where she grow up. She had always been so fascinated by the mechanic of things, that it has been a very simple and natural choice to study engineering at University.

  
Rey had never had time to try to look pretty, nor that she ever had a boyfriend or anything like that. But being just herself she didn’t ever had any problem to appear like a girl to the eyes of the other people all around her. But now, as it seemed, it was sufficient for her to tell that she was a male and that was all.

  
“Come on guys! We needed some new recruits and Rey will be happy to join us! I assure you that height is not so important in this sport as other things…”. Finn seemed to find the words that she had lost.  
“Oh really? For example?” Hux demanded then looking more annoyed than truly interested.

  
“Well, she…” Finn started, then he suddenly realized his mistake under the curious gaze of the others, and he corrected himself “he is for sure a very smart guy and…”

  
“Okay okay, I was just joking, you know me…Never mind!” Poe suddenly interrupted his nervous blabbering with a wide smile, then he reached out with his arm and his hand came to shake Rey’s one.  
“Hi, I am Poe!” he said.

  
She came down from her reverie with a frown and then she found herself smiling too at the stranger guy who’s name seem to be Poe.  
“Rey…” she simply answered. Fortunately her name both sounded good for a boy as much as it sounded good for a girl. Rey and Finn had already talked about it. She could have used her real name without a problem.

  
Somehow this same thought, now suddenly made her feel sadder. Ever her name suited better for a boy than for a girl… maybe her true parents abandoned her because she wasn’t a boy…That’s why they left her after choosing a singular name like that… This never occurred to her before.

  
“Well…Welcome in the team Rey”.

  
Rey was once more lost in her own thoughts to pay really attention to Poe’s smile, and when the door at her back suddenly opened and something heavy and hard hit at her head she found herself unprepared.  
“Ohi…” she whined, completely taken aback.

  
In that same moment she turned the direction of the door, only to discover a very tall and broad guy, even taller than the red head, with a big bag hook to his left shoulder. It took her only a look to realize that he had been the one to hit her on the back of her head had, probably with his bag. Rey waited a second for the guy to apologize, but when he finally spoke the only thing she found into his voice was anger and annoyance.

  
“Ehi what is this brat doing standing still on the entrance of our gym?”

To be continued...


	3. First impressions - part two

……………………………………………

_“Ehi what is this brat doing standing still on the entrance of our gym?”_

Rey couldn’t believe at her ears. What??! Who was the idiot that dared to address her that way? “Excuse me?” she said out loud then, with a hint of anger into her voice, looking over her shoulder. But in the same moment Rey turned her head in his direction and saw the face of the guy who had just spoke, she found herself enraptured.

Those black eyes, those thick raven hair and plump lips were screaming “handsome” from every cell of his broad body. Before she could even realize about it, Rey ended up to stare at him with a stunned expression on her face. Such an handsome guy! It wasn’t usual for her to feel so hopelessly attracted by someone at first sight, but that dark eyes of him seemed so magnetic she could have lost herself into them. Rey’s hearth lost a bit while she suddenly felt her cheeks reddening under his deep gaze.

The brief dispute already forgotten. Until he spoke again: “Ehi…what are you staring at? Who are you?” the guy asked, glaring at her angrily and sounding nothing more than annoyed. At that, Rey remained silent again, still a little confused about the situation. Was she doing something wrong? Maybe she should have been more polite and introduce herself, she thought, so when she finally seem to recover, she smiled politely at him. “Oh sorry, I am Rey” and saying so she outstretched her hand in his direction, her cheeks up in a bright smile. Usually her smiles worked.

Usually the other people answered smiling at her too. But something in that guy’s behavior didn’t seem to be common or normal at all, because he simply remained still, his arms straight at his sides, not showing any interest in shaking her hand. And when he spoke again it was finally clear to Rey that he didn’t have any intention to fraternize with her.

“Wipe that grin off your face, and shoo away flea! I have no time to waste…”. At that Rey’s eyes widened in shock, while she could hear Poe sighing in exasperation.

“Kylo” Poe addressed him then “Rey is the new recruit…Please, let him be” he said, sounding like someone who had already dealt with Kylo’s hard temper a millions of times fruitlessly. In fact, the far taller man immediately turned in his direction only to say:

“What? Poe, are you kidding me? This brat?” and then he walked past Rey only to drop his bag onto the floor, his eyes darting from Poe’s face to hers. “He is so short that I couldn’t even see him standing on the doorway… You should stop mocking me and come back to be serious” Kylo went on. “But… I am serious” Poe added with a smirk “This is his first afternoon session after class…He is one of us now”.

At that, Rey was finally about to say something when Kylo came closer to her and unespectedly grabbed her t-shirt from the collar.

“What…What are you doing?” she almost yelled at him, then, a little stunned, forced to follow him. “Ehi Solo go easy on him okay? We desperately need some new rectuits or Snoke is going to…” Poe was shouting at him, but before he could finish his sentence, Kylo had already dragged Rey in the locker room and closed the door behind them.

The girl could hear her hearth hammering into her ears, her blood running faster into her veins. What was that guy’s problem? Did he recognize that she was indeed a girl? Or… Rey’s head was still spinning with lots of questions when he finally spoke:

“I don’t care if you are here for the free dorm or if you think that this is a better way to get some girl lied… But I don’t want to deal with someone who doesn’t care about the game. Do you understand me?”. And Kylo’s face was so feral that she couldn’t avoid to swallow and answer. His whole body looked more intimidating now that they were alone, and even if he was keeping his arms crossed on his chest, his expression was feral, like a wild beast to the point to attack if the answer she was about to give wouldn’t have pleased him.

“Yes. I understand, but…” she said then in a few voice. She couldn’t think very well with Kylo so close to her. Usually guys never acted so rudely at her presence. But that change of attitude was probably due to the fact that she was pretending to be a boy…. So he doesn’t think I am a girl…Otherwise he wouldn’t have mentioned…

“Have you ever played basket before?” he asked abruptly before she could finish her sentence.

“No” she said not bearing to look at his face anymore. Rey was now glaring at her shoes. “So why are you here?” he continued, in a piercing tone that sounded deeply impatient.

“Well I…” Rey didn’t really know how to answer. For the second time in a few days she was facing someone who didn’t seem to accept her poor interest for a sport she had never ever considered to practice during her whole life. If it wouldn’t have been for the free accommodation she would have probably never entered the team, and somehow it seemed that her lack of enthusiasm was written upon her face. And now she simply can’t find the words.

“I just thought that maybe it would have been fun to play in a team and…You know, make new friends and…”

“Okay, brat, listen to me” Kylo said even before Rey could finish her sentence.

“This basketball team isn’t for fun…You better give up now and go back and play house, it’s for the best!” he said then turning in the direction of the door. Meanwhile Rey had remained speechless. “I am positive about you to quit right now…Goodbye” and saying so he was already outside, while Rey was embracing herself with a mortified expression plastered upon her face.

……………………………………………

Rey Sanders wasn’t someone who gave up on things that easily. Ben had the chance to notice about it in the same moment coach Snoke entered the gym and started to speak to the new recruits. Despite his delicate aspect Rye had a fierce look in his eyes that for a while had reminded to Kylo about himself. He endured all the four hours of extenuating training that Snoke forced them to do as a first step towards their admission in the team while sever other new guys simply decided to surrender.

Kylo found him breathing hard for most of the time and he did all his best to convince him to quit. Usually who wasn’t truly interested in the game, didn’t last longer than the first session, but here he was, sweaty and out of breath, with his face completely red and his hair all splattered upon his forehead, surrounded by Poe, Finn and all the others with their wide smiles plastered upon his faces. He would have guessed he would have been the first one to go away from that door. He was wrong.

…………………………………………

“He’s just a dick head! You shouldn’t really care about him!” Finn said for the third time that evening trying to cheer her up. “It isn’t that he has the real power to throw you out of the team anyway,” he added then while readjusting his pillow and pointing his alarm clock for 5.00 a.m. before to go to bed.

“I know but, did you see the bad glances he threw in my direction all the time while we were practicing?” she complained readjusting her own pillow and lying down on her own bed that was only a few feet away from Finn’s. All the rooms at the dorm had two beds and a little bathroom with a shower only to accommodate a few piece of furniture and nothing more. It wasn’t big or luxurious but it was something…

For Rey, the dorm was the closest place to a home that Rey had ever had in her life.

So she wasn’t willing to give up so easily… She liked her new life and that place. And nothing, not even a handsome, tall and strange guy like that Kylo could have change her mind.

“I am sorry Rey…I probably should have warned you about him, but I thought…” Finn started, then he seemed to rethink about what he was going to say.

“Never mind” he shook his head and turned in the direction of the wall. “What matters is that the other guys seemed to like you a lot and no one had seemed to recognize you as a girl… You should feel relieved,” he said.

“Yes, I guess so” Rey breathed out then, covering herself with her blanket, her tone even too quiet. In fact Finn didn’t miss the sorrow into her voice. He immediately turned to face her and when he found her to the brim of tears, he rushed to sit on the edge of her bed.

“Ehy…Everything is going to be fine. I promise” he assured her in what he hoped was a reassuring voice. Rey simply nodded not trusting her voice anymore. She was truly a mess. Even if Finn seemed to be a really good friend, Rey was starting to realize that her life could have been far more easy without all those new implications. In the first place, if only she could have kept being a girl, maybe, that guy wouldn’t have approached her that way.

“Thank you Finn, but I don’t think it is…I mean… What’s wrong with that guy? I didn’t even had the occasion to say anything and he was already…” she sniffed.

“And I am tired to the bones…Snoke is really cruel. I can’t feel my legs anymore…Tomorrow I am going to need a crane in order to get out of my bed…” she complained. “I know, I know…Even that is going to go better. I promise. About Kylo, well… I already told you that he is just a dick head?…You don’t have to care about him” Finn repeated, this time grabbing one of Rey’s hand into his.

At the contact with his skin, Rey felt herself blush and she immediately let go from his grasp.

“What are you doing?” she asked then, a little astonished. She wasn’t used to physical contact with other people in general, and even if she knew that Finn was almost harmless, the gesture seemed to startle her a lot.

Somehow Finn seemed to notice because he immediately apologized. “I am sorry…” he swallowed, retreating to his bed. “I just thought that maybe…Never mind…” he said then sounding a little wound. “Goodnight Rey”. Then he turned to face the wall while Rey laid down on her bed too. “Goodnight Finn” she answered.

Neither of them ended up sleeping so soon that night.

……………………………………

The following day Rey found out that Finn didn’t have woke her up as his usual and he wasn’t even around when she made her way out of the dorm. A sudden feeling of distress caught her and started to menace to eat her alive for lunchtime, when he didn’t answer at her message. Did she do something wrong? She had to find him and talk to him, she thought, but then she found herself in the company of two girls of her class, who asked her if she wanted to join them for lunch.

At the beginning, she was enthusiastic about the fact that she was about to know some new friends, but then she found herself deeply embarrassed when the two of them addressed her like a she… “Actually I am a guy” she lied, her head coloring of purple red in embarrassment.

Kydel and Rose bursted into laugh then. Neither of them seem to believe her until she insisted again and again that she wasn’t joking at all. Then she show them her identity card, the one she had somehow managed to forge in order to get out from situations like that. it said that she was a male. At that both Kydel and Rose didn’t seem to mind and they didn’t change their attitude, asking him if he wanted to join them anyway. Rey accepted gladly. “So…” Kydel started to speak while Rey was intent to eat her lunch. “Are you one of those transgender or…”. She asked sounding deeply curious. Rey spit out her meal not quite believing at her ears.

“Kydel!” Rose cried out then elbowing her friend into her belly, a schoked expression on her face. She sounded scandalized. “We just met her…I mean him…You shouldn’t ask this kind of questions so abruptly…” she complained. Meanwhile Rey had just readjusted herself and put what was left of her hamburger aside. “Oh my God Rose! Please don’t be so zealot…It’s a common thing nowdays… I was just curious to know about his story…” Kydel immediately said in a whiny tone.

“I haven’t any story to tell…I am just a boy…” Rey lied then trying to sound as much persuasive as she could. At that both Kydel and Rose looked at her, then at each other. An unbelieving expression on their faces. “Oh please, don’t be shy…I know it must have been hard for you, but we really want to become your friends…You can talk with us” and so Kydel smiled at her so much candor that Rey truly considered to tell them the truth. But then the fear of being discovered hit her like a wave and so she changed her mind again. “I am sorry I… The truth is that I am not really comfortable at telling about my story to the others…but yes…I was a she, and now I am a he…And…I really don’t know what to say” she confessed nervously. And that was in part true, so Rey finally felt a little relieved… until Rose and Kydel sqeeked with energy and giggled like two mad women. “Ghhhh…. You are really tell me that now you look like a boy down there?” Kydel started with new questions.

“Well I…” “And are you taking some medicines to hep your hair grow upon your face? I had a friend who’s aunt had decided to become a man but she really struggled to have a real beard…”

“Do you like girls?” For the moment they left the dining hall, Rey had lost all the color from her face, looking pale and drained, while Rose had already apologized with her a million of times. When they finally exited the campus, Kydel smiled wildly at her and said: “I am really glad I met you Rey! We should see each other after class every day!”. The simple prospect made Rey’s stomach to clench.

“Well…actually after class I have to attend…” in the same moment she was answering, Rey suddenly realized that she had lost the sense of time. She immediately rushed to look at her watch and… Shit!! I am late! Snoke is going to kick me out if I won’t be there in less and ten minutes! Fuck!! Without Finn at her side, helping her to remember about her new schedule she was lost. So Rey didn’t even had the time to dismiss properly.

She apologized and then she started to run in the direction of the gym with her books still in her hands. That damn place was on the other side of the Campus. Usually she needed at least 20 minutes to reach for her dorm, grab her things, put down the books and change. But right now she was in a rush. So she rapidly decided to go there as she was, time was rapidly running out. When she finally put a step in the gym, she was already out of breath, her hands still holdings her books.

For a lucky strike Snoke hadn’t arrived yet. His ugly old face wasn’t anywhere around. Despite this, the others were already warming up, running and panting hard. “Ehi I was wondering why you hadn’t show yet… I was worry” Poe greeted her in the same moment he saw her.

“Is everything all right? Don’t tell me you already want to quit!” he added then, throwing a quizzical glance at the books she was holding.

“Classes are too hard to attend and so you need time or…?” he tried… But then Rey shook her head in denial.

“No, no…nothing like that… I just lost the sense of time and…” she was explaining.

“And you should have stayed home. As I already told you yesterday, we don’t want any brat here! If you don’t take this sport seriously you should quit right now!” Kylo stepped in then, running past her and grabbing a ball to shoot at the basket. He obviously centered the hole. When he turned in her direction, Rey found herself mesmerized once again, by the agility and the gracious movements he showed. Bur right then he glared at her again, with that frown of his and all the magic vanished when he opened her mouth again.

“What are you staring at, brat? Don’t play stupid and start to run! Now! Or go away…” he ordered in a commanding tone that made her feel suddenly angry. “Ehi…who allowed you to give us orders?” she retorted then finally finding the courage to say something “Snoke isn’t arrived yet and…” but she hadn’t even finished that Kylo was already about to answer.

“And you don’t have to expect to see him everyday. He is a busy man, brat. And when he isn’t around, it’s me the one in charge. Do you understand me? So…I will forgive you for the delay…You obviously didn’t get it right when Snoke explained it to you yesterday…In this team there is no place for the weak and the slackers…But now I want you to start to run and then you’ll make a hundred stretches with both your legs…I made it enough clear?” he asked.

Rey had no other choice but to accept. That Kylo was a true asshole!

 

To be continued...


End file.
